Blasts from the past - Beers to match classic British dishes

With classic dishes dominating the charts of Britain's favourite pub fare,Sue Nowak chooses beers to match

The Morning Advertiser food survey (7 April 2005), pinpointing the nation's most popular pub dishes was an absolute revelation.

Just when you might expect to find ethnic food making a breakthrough, what do diners really enjoy most? Our good old British fare.

I, for one, was overjoyed to see traditional dishes right up there - roast beef, steak pies, fish and chips, gammon, sausage and mash, apple tart, treacle sponge. Real trencherman's food.

And it strikes me that this is a perfect opportunity to promote beer with food by choosing fine British ales to match or flavour these dishes. So here goes.

Amazingly, boring prawn cocktail still tops the list of favourite starters. Update it with a delicate lemon dressing and serve a wheat beer with citrus notes. And instead of Belgian, choose one of the growing number of exciting British wheat beers, such as Oakham's White Dwarf or golden Arran Blonde, available bottled. Serve well chilled with a slice of lemon on the rim of the glass.

Pâté is clearly still in fashion, too, and at its best partnered by a dark, full-flavoured beer. Nothing too strong as it's the first course - try a mild with a creamy head.

How encouraging to see roast beef leading the main courses. It is absolutely made to have alongside a robust, savoury British bitter with hops just dominating the malt. There are, happily, countless to choose from - and don't forget to put a lighter ale in the Yorkshire pudding batter to make it rise.

Steak, in second place, needs a slightly heavier beer such as the classic Worthington White Shield or Fuller's 1845 at more than 6% abv, both bottle conditioned.

Chicken, in third place, is complemented by a beer with a hint of sweetness, so why not go for one of the honey-flavoured beers such as Young's Waggledance?

When you're making fish and chips, which is number five in the top-10 list of favourites, use a light bitter or even an English-brewed lager instead of water for a really crisp, golden batter.

For meaty pies such as steak and kidney or steak and mushroom, add a generous quantity of a full-bodied, deep brown, spicy beer, which is also a splendid accompaniment. For game pie, marinate the meat in barley wine to tenderise it, then add it to the stock.

Gammon joints can be cooked and left to cool in half-and-half black porter and water. Afterwards, mix porter with mustard powder and treacle, spread over the joint, then caramelise in a fiercely hot oven. This gives a fabulous flavour to cold gammon to go with egg and chips.

For sausage and mash, choose prime pork bangers and serve them with a really delicious ale and onion gravy that is irresistible poured over mashed potato. And in a pub, would you drink anything but draught bitter with sausages?

I see ice cream, in all its many varieties, is still tops for dessert. Home-made raisin and walnut ice cream flavoured with a strong, dark, treacly sort of beer like Russian stout is very sexy. Partner vanilla ice cream with a small glass of well-chilled porter made with chocolate malt or how about a British fruit beer such as strawberry or cherry?